The E 14 section was kept separate from the rest of the Norwegian Intelligence Service of Norway and its existence was known to very few individuals in Norway. The unit was established as a direct consequence of the turmoils in the
Balkans in the middle of the 1990s. The enemy scenario in the
Balkans became more difficult as
NATO took overall command of the
United Nations. To secure
Norwegian personnel in the area, it was necessary to have a tighter and better intelligence. The unit gathered vital information in the areas it operated. Information that gained the unit recognition both domestically and abroad. E14 developed new ways of operation that made the team on the ground able to operate more independently than before. The unit focused mainly on confidence-building activities, and primarily recruited people who had plenty of cultural and language skills, in addition to a "common sense" attitude. According to information released about the unit actions, the E 14 unit was the first one to identify that
Ibrahim Rugova would be the most likely person to create stability in
Kosovo. This was at a time when
Norway, represented by the then foreign minister Mr
Knut Vollebæk was chairman of
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Most other international leaders and governments were pointing out that
Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) was the best option. However the E 14 solution was accepted by the international community after a while. Gathering
HUMINT intelligence at a time when the country was under the
Taliban regime, and was housing some of the world's most notorious terrorists. The unit was gathering information about the country and the population in the
Khyber Pass border area between Afghanistan and
Pakistan. The agents returned to Afghanistan only a few months after the
September 11 attacks in 2001, and established a base in a house in
Kabul. For three years they gathered vital information, and established connections with other contacts across the country. E 14 was also one of very few western intelligence units that had central sources high up in the regime of
Saddam Hussein before the invasion of
Iraq. The sources gave the unit and the Norwegian Intelligence Service information that Saddam Hussein did not have
weapons of mass destruction.
Merger In 2006 the unit was merged into another section of the Norwegian Intelligence Service. ==See also==